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Chandigarh: Jolt for AAP as Ward 29 councillor joins Congress
Munawar and his supporters were formally welcomed into the Congress family by Chandigarh Pradesh Congress Committee President HS Lucky; he is the fifth AAP councillor to have defected to other parties since December 2025
With the civic body elections nearly four months away, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) suffered another jolt on Sunday as its councillor, Munawar, joined the Congress along with his supporters, key associates and the entire AAP ward 29 executive committee.
Now, the Congress, with nine members, has become the second largest party in the House while AAP has slid to third place with eight councillors.
Munawar and his supporters were formally welcomed into the Congress family by Chandigarh Pradesh Congress Committee President HS Lucky. He is the fifth AAP councillor to have defected to other parties in a short span of eight months, since December 2025.
He was elected from Ward 29 (covering Sectors 55, 56 and adjoining areas) in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation elections held in 2021. Munawar had secured 6,187 votes, winning by a decisive margin of nearly 3,000 votes. He is regarded as a leader with a strong grassroots connection, particularly within the Muslim community.
Munawar, who had been associated with AAP for the past 12 years, said the party’s scenario was different at that time. “Now, there is nothing for those who want to work genuinely. The AAP leadership, both in Delhi and Chandigarh, is very weak. Leaders don’t answer phone calls easily. It is a struggle to get development works done. I had begun losing respect among the people who voted for me with high hopes. Now, the party is uninspiring,” he said.
He further stated that AAP listened only to those who have money. “I am a simple man hailing from UP who came here in the 1990s and made Chandigarh my home. How can I have the money they expect me to have?” he said.
Munawar hailed Congress leaders, particularly MP Manish Tewari, terming him responsive.
Chandigarh Congress president HS Lucky said the growing public support for the Congress is a result of MP Tewari raising public issues in Parliament and Congress councillors representing the concerns of citizens in the Municipal Corporation. “With today’s induction, the number of Congress councillors in the MC has risen to nine. Considering the MP’s voting right, the Congress now commands 10 votes,” he said.
Meanwhile, AAP’s Chandigarh in-charge Vijay Pal Singh rubbished the allegations. “Our party never asks for money. It is the demands of councillors that have increased manifold. This is the reason they are leaving the party,” he said.
AAP’s steady decline
In 2021, the AAP got its first-ever majority in the city, winning 14 seats in the 35-member House. It was followed by the BJP (12 seats) and the Congress (8). The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) secured one ward, but its councillor Hardeep Singh later joined the AAP. Despite AAP’s strength in the House, the BJP managed to win the mayoral elections in 2022, 2023, 2025 and 2026. In January 2024, after a vote-tampering fiasco, the Supreme Court had declared the AAP candidate the winner – the only time AAP was able to secure the mayor’s post in the last four years.
In 2023, then AAP councillor Taruna Mehta joined the Congress. In December 2025, Poonam and Suman Sharma switched from AAP to the BJP. In February this year, Prem Lata defected to the Congress. In March, Damanpreet Singh also joined the Congress. Now, the AAP is left with only eight councillors.
